Computers have become highly integrated in the workforce, in the home, in mobile devices, and many other places. Computers can process massive amounts of information quickly and efficiently. Software applications designed to run on computer systems allow users to perform a wide variety of functions including business applications, schoolwork, entertainment and more. Software applications are often designed to perform specific tasks, such as word processor applications for drafting documents, or email programs for sending, receiving and organizing email.
In many cases, software applications and functions are designed using an integrated development environment (IDE). IDE's provide a variety of different tools that a software developer can use to write a working application. For instance, software developers may use an IDE's debugging features to determine where problems may exist in the code. A developer may be able to set breakpoints at certain positions in the code, and execute the application step by step until a breakpoint is hit. This allows the developer to see at each step what is happening, and where the potential bugs may lie.
In some cases, a developer may be able to draft code by linking together workflow code modules. Such modules may have a defined functionality, and programming interfaces that explain how the modules are to be used in combination with other modules. Thus, using an IDE, a developer may be able to string together multiple workflow code modules to create an application or function. In such cases, or in other cases where declarative code is used, workflow code modules and other declarative code typically have corresponding code portions, which may be visible in another view of the IDE. For instance, a developer may perform a large portion of the software development in one view, and then verify his or her work in the other view.
The ability to switch views to inspect the code may be more advantageous during the actual debugging process. For example, during execution of the application or function that is being debugged, the developer may wish to see the progression of a code step in one view and immediately switch to another view while the application is still being debugged.